Red Wings "rookie" Ville Leino has three goals in 27 games so far this season and was a healthy scratch — again — in Sunday's 3-1 Detroit win over the New York Rangers.

As a Wings fan, we're all susceptible of asking the "What have you done for me, lately?" question at times. In Leino's case, maybe it should be a "What have you done for me, ever?"

OK, maybe that's a little unfair. Leino showed signs of great potential last season when he scored five goals and nine points in 13 regular season games for the Red Wings and looked good playing on the fourth line for seven games in the playoffs.

In the offseason, Leino threatened to return to Finland if not promoted to a full-time role with the Red Wings. So far this season, he's been given a bigger role, at times playing on the top line because of the injuries to Johan Franzen, Jason Williams and Val Filppula that I'm getting tired of talking about. Coach Mike Babcock didn't sugarcoat his feelings about Leino when asked by Chris McCosky of The Detroit News:

"It's not about sending a message, it's about trying to win,"
Babcock said. "We are going to dress our best players. We think Ville
is a talented kid, but he's got to get involved and he's got to skate."

I'm not knocking Drew Miller, but it says something about what direction Leino is headed in right now when a guy the team picked off waivers three weeks ago is starting over one that was under a two-year contract before training camp.

For now, Leino needs to crank up his intensity and level of competition
on a nightly basis, he needs to make sure that he's initiating contact
and distributing the puck to his teammates as efficiently as possible,
and the rest of us have to understand that, in Red Wings years, a
26-year-old forward in his first full year of NHL hockey is a good two
years from his "prime."

So long, D-Mac: There have been a lot of Darren McCarty tributes popping up across the Web following his retirement earlier this week, but none have been perhaps more humorous than the story relayed to Abel to Yzerman from The Sporting News:

“I was going to dump it in, it was the end of the shift
but [the puck] rolled on me. My reaction was to toe drag and the next
thing I knew I had a step on Niinimaa. I was just trying to shield the
puck and saw Hextall coming out ... the last thing I remember, I got
the puck on my stick and I remember thinking ‘Don’t miss the net.’”

As classic as that goal was, the reaction from Steve Yzerman might have been better.

“We were celebrating and the first guy I see is Stevie Yzerman in the
pile. His eyes were as big as saucers and he said ‘What the [expletive]
was that? I had no idea.”

The incident being referred to is, of course, this beauty of a goal that wound up being the Cup-clincher in Game 4 of the 1997 Stanley Cup Finals.

The goal was the biggest of his career, but the most memorable McCarty moment was months earlier when he pummeled Claude Lemieux. His blue-collar work ethic captured the hearts of Detroit hockey fans and his efforts to overcome his substance abuse problems earned a compliment from former President George W. Bush and some love from behind enemy lines. Avalanche beat writer Adrian Dater, who interviewed and profiled McCarty for much of his excellent book "Blood Fued," had this to say:

"I know Avs fans here will hate to read this, but McCarty was/is a
tremendous person who has overcome a lot in his life and probably will
continue to face tough personal challenges in his new life. He’s had
some very public personal setbacks, and they’re always waiting to
re-appear in a person’s life if given the chance."